9, Maybe 10, Occupied Barred Owl Nest Boxes in Hampstead

[Alfred Maley]

I checked out the nest boxes today in Hampstead and found 9 female owls looking back out at me (if the entrance hole could be seen from the same elevation) or in the ceiling mirror otherwise. Didn’t get to check one nest box that has been occupied in the past. Eight nests are on town conservation lands.

The nest in our yard has now been occupied for 10 years, by the same female, who must be at least 11 years old now. The pair make themselves quite at home, sitting in the cover of the crabapple trees at times during the day or right on the deck at night. They relish young gray squirrels - I have no idea where they get them from.

Al Maley
Hampstead